caulfield12

Ivanka Trump arrives at Olympics. So does a senator (Idaho/Risch) warning of 'biblical' destruction of North Korea. https://sports.yahoo.com/ivanka-trump-arriv...-094724382.html What garnered less attention from the gathered press was the identity of the man immediately to her left as she thanked Korea for the warm welcome. His face isn’t recognizable. But his words just a few days ago at the Munich Security Conference are pretty … notable … or alarming … or whatever word you choose to use. “If [a nuclear conflict with North Korea] starts, it’s going to be probably one of the one of the worst catastrophic events in the history of our civilization,” said Jim Risch, a Republican senator from Idaho. “It is going to be very, very brief. The end of it is going to see mass casualties the likes of which the planet has never seen. It will be of biblical proportions.” Interestingly, Danny Tarkanian, Jerry’s son...is now hammering Dean Heller in the NV GOP primary for close ties to “Democrat” Ivanka.

QUOTE (bmags @ Feb 23, 2018 -> 09:23 AM) It's one of the reasons why the bullpen strategy is interesting though. Some articles have noted either Haber or Fabian talking about how with bullpens being so valuable, draft relief arms might be an inefficiency to exploit. And we don't really count up our bullpen prospects because it seems so risk-filled and we have less info on them. But there is a conscious collection of guys such as Burdi, Hamilton, Veiera, Burr, Henzman, T. Johnson that all have interesting arms, as well as the likelihood of some failed starters maybe being dynamite in relief. It's a bit counting your chickens before they hatch, but sox specifically tried to make the above happen so it's interesting to see if it either works in the majors or provides them with trade chips. Royals finding market inefficiency in low-risk reclamations https://sports.yahoo.com/news/royals-findin...23694--mlb.html Similar concept...Chris Young, Blanton, Madson, Medlen (didn’t work out) etc. We have/had Kahnle (sold low?), Swarzak, Jennings, (Crain going further back) and now a TON of reclamation guys along with 10-12 legit young prospects (including Burdi/Cease/Lopez/Fulmer.) But that original KC pen was an absolute monster...Herrera, Hochevar, Collins, W.Davis and Holland. And the Twins actually did the same thing, two distinct cycles, from 2002-2010.

QUOTE (Eminor3rd @ Feb 23, 2018 -> 09:04 AM) The difference is that Matt Kemp's money only covers two years and would purchase a sub-market asset with 6 years of control. It would be spending money now to save money in the future. Then create a realistic option/opt after 2 or 3 years that’s acceptable to both sides, keeping him off the 2018/19 market. He would only be 31-32 then, so not precluding one big shot at a final lifetime deal of 4-5 years...

QUOTE (Eminor3rd @ Feb 23, 2018 -> 08:37 AM) I think one of the under-posted arguments to NOT settling for a guy like Moustakas is in the bolded of your post above. A bunch of these guys ARE going to flame out. More than likely, when we find ourselves on the fringes of contention, we will have a couple big holes to fill, and the math that you just described may very well apply. It may make a ton of sense to fill those holes with "just solid" players if we already have superstars elsewhere. The problem with doing that NOW is that we don't know which guys are going to be the busts and thus which spots we need to fill, so we'd be forced to guess. The flexibility of holding our money back until we can spend it in the most optimal way has value. This is a couple of years out of date...at that point we were 12th in MLB. https://www.fangraphs.com/blogs/estimated-t...l-30-mlb-teams/ We keep talking about low ratings (see Astros 2012-14), but we share significant revenues due to the Cubs, Bulls, Blackhawks...so we need to do whatever is possible between now and mid 2019 to push that $50 million up to $100 million. These new deals have all been 20+ years, so it’s the single most critical factor for long term franchise stability/viability. Mariners, no playoffs, $2 billion, 20 years (signed Cano, Cruz, Hernandez extension) Rangers, $1.6 billion, 20 years Phillies, 25-year deal and the Philadelphia Inquirer reported it is worth more than $2.5 billion, with the Phillies also acquiring an equity stake in the network, plus receiving advertising revenue. The Mariners New TV Deal Gives Added Flexibility, But Will They Use It? The Mariners get a new lucrative TV deal before the bubble bursts. The question is, with no stadium/corporate franchise debt, how will they use it? https://www.lookoutlanding.com/2013/4/19/42...ctv-maury-brown

QUOTE (GreenSox @ Feb 23, 2018 -> 08:26 AM) The Astros have Springer, Correa, Altuve as stars. Probably Bregman too. Cubs have Rizzo, Bryant and Contreras. Will the Sox have 3 or 4 young players at that level in 2 years? I doubt it. I think they'll have a number at the Happ level, however. Which is why I want them to stockpile the pitching. Astros and Cubs were light on pitching - Sox can get their championship via a different route....closer to the Royals: solid across the board, with top shelf pitching. The best 3 eras of the Sox in my life had starting pitching as the greatest strength: 83, 93 and 05. Yea, meant Gurriel. I was thinking of Rusney Castillo I guess The Royals’ blueprint was 1) Bullpen 2) Defense 3) Speed/aggressiveness 4) Contact hitters...moving the line 5) Just enough starting pitching I worry about the defense and bullpen (raw pieces are there, along with one FA signing)...and obviously making more contact offensively. The advantage SHOULD be starting pitching and power hitting. At that time (2014-16), speed/defense/bullpen was completely undervalued. No longer the case, to exploit those market inefficiencies, just like the Pirates did with pitch framing and relying on infield defense and sinkerball pitchers.

QUOTE (RockRaines @ Feb 23, 2018 -> 08:11 AM) I dont know if a 400 dollar payment to a mother from an agent is going to sink him. But another sexual assault allegation last week ups the pressure again...plus Bridges and Jackson will both go pro.

QUOTE (Dick Allen @ Feb 23, 2018 -> 08:11 AM) There are a heck of a lot of guys who project to things they never become. I hope all the White Sox prospects reach to their projections and above, but it's not realistic to not think at least half of these guys are going to face plant. If they don't, it's gravy, but right now Eloy, Moncada, Hansen, Kopech, Robert, are all future 9 figure contract guys. Hopefully, 2 are. Or...really really stretching (Garcia repeats his 4-5 WAR 2017) Avi Garcia Micker Adolfo (raw talent-wise) Collins becomes an All-Star catcher Anderson averages 3-4 WAR and hits FA while still quite young Carlos Rodon Out of those ten...how many will ever sign a $100+ deal?

QUOTE (wrathofhahn @ Feb 23, 2018 -> 08:08 AM) Pretty much a guarantee we are talking less then a handful I can't remember another guy other then Stras. Currently, five teams (the Blue Jays, A's, Braves, Reds and Giants) don't have a single player represented by Boras on their Major League roster. Ten other teams only have one. The Blue Jays, in fact, have been so stringent with their free-agent hauls that Boras publicly questioned their club policy against signing players to anything more than a five-year deal. Interesting...the Nationals have SEVEN. http://www.sportsonearth.com/article/10697...c-nationals-mlb

QUOTE (Reddy @ Feb 22, 2018 -> 08:42 PM) Bernie now trying to undercut the Mueller probe, after voting against Russia sanctions... Hm... who else agrees with both of those positions? This whole article is - honestly - insane. Definitely worth the read. Especially if you're in the Bernie camp. https://www.politico.com/story/2018/02/21/b...rference-420528 Sanders is losing influence...because all the focus is on Biden and even Oprah. Biden would be hard for the progressive side to top. But two establishment figures risk fracturing the party unless they finally compromise and at least go with one for VP. It would be Biden/Harris or Booker, but lots will change. I do feel it needs to be a younger pairing for a candidate nearing 80.

So many moving pieces...Rutherford, Collins/Zavala, Cease, Burdi, Burger, Adolfo, Dunning...need to not flame out, or at least hit expectations. With the Cubs, it is now an incredible young catcher, Happ and Hendricks offsetting Soler, Schwarber and Zobrist/Heyward (obviously, the last two contributed something in 2016). But even the Cubs are playing with fire on the bullpen side of the equation, as well as the health of Lester/Darvish. We all know that only Buehrle and Garland came out of that incredible BA #1 1999-2000 pitching group...and that the real keys were nearly perfect trades for Garcia and Contreras to put them over the top.

QUOTE (GreenSox @ Feb 23, 2018 -> 07:17 AM) Moustakas is a hole-plugger. A good hole-plugger, but he's not a cornerstone player. The problem is, we don't know where the holes will be in a year or 2. We can assume it won't be corner OF or 2B. We have a good amount of pitching in the pipeline. But after that? We have 2 catchers in the org, both of whom are a long way away. We don't have much in CF. I thought L. Garcia showed promise, but even if he fully develops, what exactly do we have? An average CF or slightly above. And the Sox have a couple of others at about that level. Anderson should improve at SS - but if he does, we're probably looking at Alexei. Not exactly a Correa. So, really, even if some of the guys develop, they will be slightly above average players....we already have our Moustakas'. Sure one non-heralded prospect could really pop - we'll see. But I'm more confident in 2 or 3 of the Delmonico's/Leurys popping into rosterable players, not stars. The Astros went into last year with overt weak-spots at 1B, LF and starting pitching. It would have also been RF, but they signed Reddick. So what happened? 33 year old Castillo has a great year. Marwin Gonzalez, barely a .700 OPS hitter over several years, balloons to .900 OPS. Marisnick, who couldn't hit .700 OPS, exceeds .800 OPS as a 4th outfielder. 33 year old Charlie Morton has a career year and they trade for Verlander. Career years are common in WS winners. But regardless, the Astros were solid at most positions. Then filled their holes. Castillo? The real question is how much does having a playoff-competitive team for most of the 2019 season leverage the broadcasting rights deal to allow the Sox to absorb a megacontract? What comes first, the chicken or the egg? How much would signing Harper or Machado push up their media deals? Or do JR and son prefer to wait...deciding how much to allocate depending on how much rights increase? (Also taking into consideration the $50 million from BAM Tech merger.) The old saying, you have to spend money to make money...is our philosophy to have three players like Robert/Avi/Abreu for roughly the price of one Donaldson in total contract dollars, to “spread the risk” so to speak? To sign three to five youngsters like Robert/Adolfo or one megacontract? 2019...in that scenario, for the White Sox, is 2013 for the Royals and 2015 for the Cubs/Astros, with everything pushed ahead of schedule by at least half a season. How hard will that timetable be to resist for a franchise hitting ten years without a playoff appearance? What happens if Jimenez, Moncada, Kopech and Robert fail to meet expectations or get hurt in 2018/19 (see Rodon) and that team disappoints? That’s the worst-case scenario, certainly, with Balta’s bright predictions being the opposite.

2020 Chicago White Sox $35 million Machado/Arenado 3B $4 million Tim Anderson SS Yoan Moncada 2B $21 million Jose Abreu 1B Burger DH Jimenez/Robert/??? ($13-15 million Avi Garcia) Collins C $15 million Elite closer Rodon Kopech Giolito Hansen Dunning/López That puts you at $75 million for just four players. (Obvious hope is to develop our own closer, not need to add a veteran starter...quite a few will argue against keeping Abreu at that point for that price. I suppose that you could argue for $70 million and extend Avi Garcia instead.)

The Atlantic Kevin Lamarque / Reuters Wayne LaPierre’s Cynical Exploitation of Outrage The NRA executive vice president’s pugnacious speech on Thursday provoked an indignant response—exactly as he’d aimed to do. But more often, post-shooting discussions have reverted to stalemate, and as LaPierre knows, stalemate favors the NRA. Existing gun laws are relatively loose, and all the NRA needs to win is to prevent immediate action, or else limit regulation to tinkering around the margins. LaPierre’s claims will upset and alienate many Americans, but from the NRA’s standpoint, that’s the point. When LaPierre says wild things, the mainstream media covers them; when the mainstream media covers them, it gins up NRA supporters, who renew memberships, send new money, or rededicate themselves to lobbying their representatives. It doesn’t matter that most people will be angry at what LaPierre says. After all, poll after poll after poll has shown majority support for a range of gun-control measures, but the NRA has learned to achieve its goals with a small but staunch base. This kind of base-oriented strategy is reminiscent of Trump’s approach to politics. It’s probably not a coincidence that LaPierre, echoing Trump, attacked “the unbelievable failure of the FBI” Thursday morning. Trump also tweeted supportively before LaPierre’s speech: “What many people don’t understand, or don’t want to understand, is that Wayne, Chris and the folks who work so hard at the @NRA are Great People and Great American Patriots. They love our Country and will do the right thing.” The danger for Trump is that it’s hard to be reelected with a small, embattled base and massive disapproval. Not so for the NRA, which functions quite effectively that way. Even for LaPierre, there is a risk in his strategy of provocation. Someday he may go too far and incur a backlash even from his supporters. Perhaps this is that day, though there’s no particular reason to believe that at this point. The thing to remember is that outlandish statements at venues like CPAC aren’t an unforced error or a lapse in judgment. They are a carefully calibrated, and thus far highly successful, strategic choice. He also falsely warned seniors this week that seeking assistance with tax filing would get them put on a national “mental impairment” list that would allow “the Feds” to take their guns away...

QUOTE (RockRaines @ Feb 22, 2018 -> 09:51 PM) Trump just ran with a debunked conspiracy theory about the town hall last night. He’s that dumb CNN was right to do what they did. Too many scripted speeches from students and parents, all competing to go viral or create gotcha moments against Rubio or the NRA. That Alyadheff woman went on for maybe five minutes, and must have asked 10-12 questions at one time. Then she screamed at the end, because shouting at Trump got her so much attention the first time she was interviewed in the days afterward. It had nothing to do with a conspiracy (see Clinton/Brazile)...a Republican, Trump voting teacher who shielded 65 kids in her room argued strongly against arming teachers. The exact same point was covered in a more effective way that the student (interviewed by Tucker Carlson) wanted to bring up. The end.

QUOTE (Chicago White Sox @ Feb 22, 2018 -> 10:36 PM) The Sox went up to a $128M payroll back in 2011. They will most certainly get back up to that level with all the new revenue streams in place. I feel like a $150M or so payroll in a few years is fairly realistic. As for holes, I seriously doubt they add a SP for big money. Kopech, Giolito, & Lopez will all gets shots at proving whether or not they are major league caliber starters. We still have Rodon to fill a spot. Hansen could be up by the end of this year. Dunning isn’t too far off. Plus potential back-end guys like Stephens, Adams, & Guerrero will ready and waiting for a shot at a spot. I think they’ll stick with what they have internally for the rotation. CF will likely be one of internal guys (Leury, Tilson, Engel, Cordell) or a free agent on a short-term deal. They will not want to block Robert. We should be able to find a DH if needed at a reasonable rate. Yes, I definitely see us adding one impact reliever and that could be fairly pricey. But at this point in time (I know it’s stilll early), I’m not seeing all these holes that will have to be plugged long-term by expansive free agents. And we can always use some of our prospect depth to acquire more cost-controlled players to fill some gaps if necessary. A lot depends on Anderson and Rodon. If Moncada, Jimenez and Robert each fulfilled their potential, then we’re in really good shape. We still have concerns about catcher and 3B, and aren’t sure what to do with Abreu and Garcia...extending either will be another chunk of change, with Abreu maybe $65 million for three years. Realistically, going forward they have to look at 3b, catcher, an elite closer and a veteran #2 starting pitcher, because the odds of Giolito, Lopez, Kopech and Fulmer/Dunning all holding up as reliable starters isn’t that high. Sure, maybe we get that closer internally (Cease?)...maybe Collins develops as predicted when we drafted him, but a LOT of things have to go right to not have 3-4 critical roster issues heading into 2020. The Nats are likely to lose Harper, they will put everything they’ve got into retaining Rendon...

QUOTE (Chicago White Sox @ Feb 22, 2018 -> 08:58 PM) How are we in trouble by targeting high-end talent? As has been mentioned repeatedly, we can go get a player like Moustakas if we miss out on those top guys when said player is needed. We don’t have to settle right now. I think some of you guys are so used to the old way of doing things that you honestly think Moose as good as it gets. There are four elite 3B options in Machado, Donaldson, Arenado, & Rendon hitting free agency over the next two years. We will have as much financial flexibility as anyone to add one of these guys. While I think Machado is a long-shot because of the Yankees, I think any of the other three are realistic possibilities. And if we really want to win a World Series, we should be doing everything in our power to add a star, 5+ WAR player at 3B (our biggest area of weakness) rather settle for a 2 to 3 WAR guy that will cost us $12M to $16M in wasted season plus a pick. We’ll see. Odds are 50/50 that Rendon or Arenado stay put...so that quickly cuts the realistic list back down to Donaldson and one of those two. Do the Sox have the will to win a bidding war in the $150+ million range? We can argue if Moustakas is a 2-3 or 3-4. His 2015 and 2016 extrapolated/abbreviated numbers would argue the latter. If he was 32, I wouldn’t be arguing for him. I’d also argue the odds are greater for Moustakas than Avi Garcia in 2018, for example...especially Moustakas playing in a hitter friendly park for the first time.

QUOTE (Chicago White Sox @ Feb 22, 2018 -> 07:30 PM) But he’s not a really good player. That’s the point. Unless his defense rebounds, he’s really an average player. And if we’re unwilling to consider players in their 30’s to fill any roles our rebuild is going to be in trouble. If our sights for every position are a Top 5 player, we’re also in trouble. He’s a good player. And he’s still in his prime, and LH.

QUOTE (Chicago White Sox @ Feb 22, 2018 -> 07:12 PM) Why are these five along with Moustakas the only five options? Why can’t we trade for someone when the time is right if necessary. The Giants just acquired a very comparable player in Longoria. I could see Kyle Seager becoming available at some point in the near future. These markets are dynamic and with the amount of teams rebuilding players who were once considered off-limits may become available. Now we are back to guys in their 30’s again. Longoria has been very solid the last four years, but he’s owed $81 million for age 32-36. Moustakas is only 29. It’s just very rare you can get a really good player not approaching his down curve or with a very expensive contract.

QUOTE (KagakuOtoko @ Feb 22, 2018 -> 03:05 PM) He's just trying to rile up the rabid dog base that is CPAC. But the muslims tidbit is 100% bulls***. Apparently he missed Cameron’s True Lies. Since China can’t be the enemy in American anymore movies due to the growing influence of box office here...the go to enemy is either random Middle Eastern Jihadists, North Korea or Russia in about 90% of movies. Maybe Colombian/Mexican drug lords in the other 10%, or Somalian pirates. Now that the students are using their experience to push for stricter gun control, Ben Shapiro wonders for National Review, despite the left’s rapt attention, “[w]hat, pray tell, did these students do to earn their claim to expertise?” “[High-school students from Parkland have] now been trotted out by advocates of gun control as newfound authorities on the evils of the Second Amendment,” Shapiro writes. “Are children innocents or are they leaders? Are teenagers fully autonomous decision-makers, or are they lumps of mental clay, still being molded by unfolding brain development?” “The answer seems to be relatively simple: Children and teenagers are not fully rational actors,” Shapiro concludes. “They’re not capable of exercising supreme responsibilities. And we shouldn’t be treating innocence as a political asset used to push the agenda of more sophisticated players.” http://amp.slate.com/news-and-politics/201...dirty-work.html Apparently he missed the entire Civil Rights movement...

Does treason against Israel count...? Well, I guess they don’t reallycare because Jared’s simply doing a great job, embassy moved, a foundering Netanyahu loves Trump, etc. http://abcnews.go.com/Blotter/trumps-discl...ory?id=47449304

QUOTE (hi8is @ Feb 22, 2018 -> 01:11 PM) Ah duh. Daniel Hudsen was the main trade chip in return. Hudson. Still hanging in there as a reliever after two TJ surgeries.

Following suit with the rest of the league, Mike Moustakas went off in the power department last season, besting his previous career-high home-run total by 16. His hard-hit rate actually fell nearly six percentage points to 31.9 percent, but Moustakas got the ball in the air more often -- his flyball rate jumped from 39.6 percent to 45.7 percent -- and that was the driving force behind the homer spike. He was also a far more aggressive hitter, upping his Swing% from 42.1 percent to 55.6 percent, and while that led to a precipitous drop in walk rate, the new approach proved beneficial on the whole. The 29-year-old improved against same-handed pitching, batting .270/.296/.467 against lefties (.241/.291/.396 for career) and kept his contact rate over 80 percent. It may very well prove to be his career year, but a move to a more hitter-friendly home park should keep Moustakas' production from falling off too much. https://www.cbssports.com/fantasy/baseball/...mike-moustakas/ Of course, in 2015 he had a 4.4 WAR and was heading that way before the knee injury in 2016. Last year, he was below 2 in a career year due to the leg on defense. He was also bothered the last 5-6 weeks of 2017 by the knee. That’s where Herm Schneider comes in.

Even if you do it that way, he’s one of the best 100 out of 300 who had the most playing time for each team. Hence, well above average. Let’s think of this another way. Which players that are better than him are available without gutting our farm system? If I argued Josh Harrison, the argument would be that Yolmer is better or certainly cheaper. So, other than Machado (who might not even want to play 3b), Donaldson, Rendon and Arenado, who’s really out there? At least two of those guys will probably re-sign, so you’re back in the box of chasing 33-37 year old Josh Donaldson with $140-165 million over four years. Is Burger likely to be a 3 war third baseman in 2020? Odds, knowing his defensive issues...?

QUOTE (Soxbadger @ Feb 22, 2018 -> 05:05 PM) HOW DARE YOU QUESTION THAT HERO? Lets attack the paid students. Just like every teacher wielding a gun would then become the first targets of the attacker. Since public school records have to be published, it would be easy to research exactly who has certification and permits to carry a gun. Also, for all we know, ex military suffering from PTSD might not react well under stressful combat conditions after 10-15 years away from that environment. Just like this SRO apparently.

NRA seems to be mostly upset with shootings where lots of white people are killed because that gets more coverage than random Chicago gang violence...basically, mass shootings of upper class heterosexual whites (Pulse and Sutherland Springs don’t fit) is the ONLY thing that really puts pressure on the gun lobby See LV, Aurora, Columbine, Sandy Hook. "Now I'm not saying that you love the tragedy," she continued, "but I am saying you love the ratings." She added: "Crying white mothers are ratings gold to you." Loesch noted that her choice to highlight "crying white mothers" was intentional, because "there are thousands of grieving black mothers in Chicago every weekend and you don't see town halls for them, do you?" Loesch on Wednesday night attended a CNN town hall with the survivors of the high school shooting in Parkland, Florida, where 17 people were killed by a teenager with a semiautomatic rifle. "Where's the CNN town hall for Chicago? Where's the CNN town hall for sanctuary cities?" she asked. Watch her remarks (which start at 0:20) below. Kelly O'Meara Morales http://theweek.com/speedreads/756858/nras-...re-good-ratings